Tom Brady a must for Patriots Super Bowl win

So far in 2008 , it has been interesting to view the free agency period as ‘back to the roots’ for the Patriots when compared to 2007.
There was too much hype on the Patriots in 2007 after obtaining Adalius Thomas, Kelley Washington, Donte’ Stallworth, Kyle Brady and picking up Randy Moss and Wes Welker with draft picks.
More then a few in the media did feel the Patriots had built one of the best teams on paper. The Patriots were predicted to go to the Super Bowl and a few in the blog’o'sphere even believed the Patriots could go undefeated.
I did not care as much about the number of victories, breaking individual, NFL or team records. Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts have proved more then once that breaking records do not win Championships. I want the Patriots to win the next Super Bowl Championship and the next one and the next one…
The Colts won in 2006 without having a record breaking season or career year for Manning, but they played as a team and won with solid defense in the playoffs. Even though Peyton did have his pout in the 2006 AFC Championship game, he proved to be a leader and brought his team back to win and after many futile attempts finally made it to his first Super Bowl.
In 2007, the other Manning – Eli – was able to take the pressure of off-field comments from former and current teammates and improved during the season. With the help of an aggressive and impressive Giants defensive attack, Eli was able to handle the pressure of the undefeated Patriots to lead the Giants as Super Bowl Champions. I am still certain that if the Giants had not backed off during the second half of the final game of the season, the Giants would have won that game too.
Now personally, I have seen enough Mannings winning Super Bowls for a lifetime, but now that both Peyton and Eli have each won their own, they could still win a few more…
So how about our Patriots? It has been since 2004 since our team has won a Super Bowl and although the Patriots have had their chances recently – it has been a big disappointment. Losing to the Colts after a huge lead in the 2006 Championship and then going 18 and doh! in the 2007 Super Bowl.
OK – that is the past and this is 2008
There are discussions the Patriots have an easy season in 2008 as they are in the AFC East and play versus the a less then stellar AFC West (Raiders, Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers) and weak NFC West (Cardinals, Rams, 49ers, Seahawks). A few in the media believe the Pats could make another undefeated run in 2008.
To be honest with nearly all offensive starters returning we should still have the fire power of 2007. Will Tom Brady and the team be able to handle the pressure two seasons in a row of speculation of trying to go undefeated?
The success in 2008 will have more to do with the health and mindset of Tom Brady to start the whole season and win the Super Bowl, then it will to break records.
There may be a few question about health and depth at the tight end and offensive line positions. These key areas of blocking in what may become a week-in and week-out of pressure on Tom Brady – ala the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.
So if Tom Terrific goes down with an injury – where will that leave the team? There is no real back up quarterback in New England and unless a veteran is signed, if Brady goes down the season may be over.
The same offensive line that needs to protect Brady also needs to open holes for the running game and allow Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris. Both players have shown the potential to run over 1,000 yards each in the same season. 2008 may be different then 2007 as the Patriots wins coming through a healthy running game. Adding Kevin Jones is still a possibility for the Patriots.
As for the receiving corp., wide receiver Chad Jackson will be getting his final opportunity to prove himself by replacing Donte’ Stallworth who has gone the Cleveland Browns. So yes realistically it is the same passing offense with Jabar Gaffney still on hand to support Moss, Welker and Jackson.
Will they be as powerful if Brady goes down? How will the coaching staff change the game plan and how will the players react?
To be honest, I do not know how the team will manage and other then sticking my head in the sand and say it will never happen, I will be rooting for Tom Brady and all the players and praying for their health and stability to lead the Patriots to another Super Bowl victory!
IN BILL WE TRUST!!